The present invention relates to can opener devices and more particularly to a structure and feature that permits easy removal of the cutting knife assembly of the can opener such that the cutting knife assembly and associated parts may be more conveniently cleaned.
Can openers are very common appliances in the modern kitchen and may be of either an electric or manual variety. Such can openers in household use can accumulate food on the parts associated with the can cutting operation and hence require frequent cleaning to prevent an unsanitary condition. Certain difficulties are presented in cleaning such devices because of their bulk, the proximity of the contaminated elements to other elements, their mounting and the danger of liquids and cleaning compound near electrical apparatus if the can opener is of the electric variety. The principal cleaning difficulty resides in the fact that the cutting wheel, or knife, used in such can openers is so positioned as not to permit complete and ready access to the entire cutting wheel assembly. Hence, it becomes particularly desirable that the structure which carries the cutting wheel -- which is commonly in the form of a hand-operated lever arm -- be readily removable from the other parts of the can opener so that thorough washing of the cutting wheel assembly can be easily accomplished. There are prior art techniques for removing the cutting wheel assembly to provide for thorough cleaning thereof. However, the prior art techniques have required manual operation of release levers and/or the inclusion of numerous extra parts, some of which are fairly expensive. These include for example: a keyhole shaped cutout and specially machined parts. U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,698 issued Apr. 11, 1972, to Scott, discloses a can opener with a removable hand lever and cutting element which provides a complicated spring latch mechanism and an eccentric cam. A prior art can opener provided a rigid and immovable keeper and, therefore, required a predetermined angular orientation of the handle to permit either handle removal or replacement. The improved mechanism of the present invention requires no more parts than the last cited structure and fewer, simpler and more economical parts than the other cited prior art structures and provided the best features of both.